When the minimum feature size of an integrated circuit (IC) shrinks to 250 nm or less, traditional photolithography technology has various difficulties to achieve high resolution in photoresist patterning. For example, shorter wavelength light such as deep ultraviolet (DUV) including 248 nm UV by krypton fluoride (KrF) excimer lasers and 193 nm UV by argon fluoride (ArF) excimer lasers are employed to realize patterning integrated circuit features much smaller, such as those in 130 nm, 90 nm, and 65 nm technology nodes. However, DUV radiation is not compatible with many different types of photoresist. Correspondingly, a new type of photoresist material, referred to as chemical amplified resists (CAR), has been adopted for use with DUV. However, in CAR, photo generated acid in exposed regions often diffuses into unexposed regions, causing blurring of the latent image and resulting in lateral bias of the exposed image.
It is desired to provide a new and improved system and process for supporting DUV and other types of photolithography. It is also desired to provide new photoresist materials that overcome one or more problems associated with conventional materials.